WCCI – WFCC

Happy New Year 2023!

By admin 31/12/2022 31/12/2022 ECSC, ISC, Other, WCCC/WCSC, WCCI, WCCT, WSC

The year behind was crowded with official composing and solving events, thanks to the judges and organizers who worked hard in 2022.

January brought 18^th International Solving Contest, another successful edition run by ever passionate Axel Steinbrink.

In March, the Solving Committee has made another step forward, introducing the very informative Solving Portal on our website.

May was the month of 15^th European Chess Solving Championship, and Julia Vysotska created and exceptionally friendly atmosphere in Riga to attract solvers to the first ECSC since 2019.

Results of the two longest lasting composing events were completed between August and October. First, Valery Kopyl finalized the 8^th World Championship in Composing for Individuals 2019-21, in spite of the most difficult circumstances in his country.

The other hard task was fulfilled by our long standing President Harry Fougiaxis, who took over the duty of the 11^th World Chess Composing Tournament director.

During the summer, awards of the 10^th FIDE World Cup in Composing were appearing one by one. In October, the director Aleksey Oganesyan ended his job and announced the final results.

World Solving Cup 2021/22, under the firm control of Roland Ott, lasted throughout the year, using the organizing resources of 13 different countries.

The final stage of the WSC was in Fujairah. In November, the United Arab Emirates hosted the 64^th World Congress of Chess Composition. The first ever WCCC in Arabian Peninsula was an outstanding event in many ways. Dr. Abdulla Ali Aal Barket assured the memorable conditions for promotion of chess composition, and Mohammad Abdul Ghani was there to execute every single task.

The director of the 45^th World Chess Solving Championship was the same as for the 15^th ECSC. It was a challenging double task, unmistakably executed by Ivan Denkovski.

Let’s turn to 2023!

The red dates in our calendars will be 29^th January (19^th ISC), 2^nd-4^th June (16^th ECSC in Bratislava) and 2^nd-9^th September (65^th WCCC in Batumi).

Apart from regular competitions, we will have a joint duty to come closer to a much wider audience. The first steps in this direction were made a week ago, registering the WFCC in different social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram), with some introductory posts for each of them.

To find our stable place there we need more contributors from different countries, to “feed” the media with short but attractive and frequent posts. Some longer posts, for instance from national championships, may appear on the FIDE website, as announced by their Marketing and Communications Officer David Llada.

It’s perhaps time to recall words by our Honorary President Dr. Klaus Wenda, dedicated to the Golden Jubilee of our organization, in 2007:

There is no doubt that the status of the contemplative occupation of chess problems among the young is lower nowadays; that is confirmed by an alarming lack of young problemists in virtually all the member countries. It only makes the task of the commission more important, though: creating new incentives and new ways to arouse interest in chess composition. I know that there is no easy answer, but the important thing, in accordance with Herakleitos’s dictum, is to recognise new trends quickly and react to them appropriately.

Happy, healthy, and peaceful 2023!

Marjan Kovačević
WFCC President

WCCI 2019-2021: Results

By admin 29/08/2022 06/09/2022 WCCI

The RESULTS of the 8th World Championship in Composing for Individuals WCCI 2019-2021 are published! The director’s report will come later.

(06.09.2022) Update: The director apologises for the unfortunate mistake that slipped in the threemovers (section B) spreadsheet. While entering the judges’ scores, he accidentally filled in the column of C.G..S Narayanan’s marks with those of Sergey I. Tkachenko. Such oversights may happen, particularly when someone works under harsh conditions. The files of the results and the top-rated threemovers are now updated.

The winners:

A Twomovers: Vasyl Dyachuk, Pavel Murashev, Marjan Kovačević
B Threemovers: Aleksandr Kuzovkov, Igor Agapov, Valery Shavyrin
C Moremovers: Aleksandr Kuzovkov, Mikhail Marandyuk, Valery Shavyrin
D Endgame studies: Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen, Oleg Pervakov, Serhiy Didukh
E Helpmates: Mykola Kolesnik, Aleksandr Semenenko, Viktoras Paliulionis
F Selfmates: Andrey Selivanov, Zoran Gavrilovski, Gennadiy Koziura
G Fairies: Petko Petkov, Valery Semenenko, Václav Kotěšovec
H Retros: Silvio Baier, Dmitrij Baibikov, Kostas Prentos

Extension of WCCI and WCCT judging deadlines

By admin 08/03/2022 10/03/2022 WCCI, WCCT

The World Federation for Chess Composition strongly condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the involvement of Belarus and expresses its solidarity and support for the Ukrainian people. We feel deep sorrow for all the victims of the war and their families.

Ukrainian problemists are facing mortal danger right now, so it is unreasonable we keep the original time schedule of WCCI 2019-21 and WCCT-11; the deadline for WCCI judges and WCCT judging countries is rescheduled for 1^st of August 2022. In the coming weeks we will have a more clear picture of the situation and will update you further.

WCCI 2019-2021: Entries completed

By admin 24/01/2022 29/08/2022 WCCI

WCCI 2019-21 attracted a bit more than 250 composers with 2600+ compositions. Participants should check the list of entries on the Entries page and report comments to the director, Valery Kopyl (email: v.kopyl@i.ua) and to the webmaster (email: webmaster@wfcc.ch).

The Entries to the 2019-21 WCCI can be found from the TOP EVENTS menu on the right and on the Competitions/Composing page, WCCI section:

2019-2021: Announcement | Entries

Director of WCCI greets all participants and expresses his gratitude for the entries presented and proper reaction and assistance in working process.

WCCI 2019-2021: Entries

By admin 02/01/2022 02/01/2022 WCCI

The Entries to the 2019-21 WCCI can be found from the Competitions/Composing page, WCCI section:

2019-2021: Announcement | Entries | Results

The update is planned to happen weekly. Please, be patient, we have a lot of manual work here, and if any links are broken, write directly to webmaster@wfcc.ch. The questions about the content of the entries or any other questions related to the current WCCI should be sent to the tourney director, Valery Kopyl (email: v.kopyl@i.ua).

WCCI 2019-2021: Announcement

By admin 03/12/2021 14/12/2021 WCCI

The WFCC is inviting composers of all countries to participate in the 2019-21 WCCI. The tourney director is Valery Kopyl (email: v.kopyl@i.ua). The competition will be held according to the system used in the previous championship, with changes in point 9 of the rules.

WCCI 2016-18	WCCI 2013-15
4. A composer may submit to each section no more than 6 and no less than 4 compositions published in the defined three-year period. For informal tourneys the date of publication of the issue containing the composition is decisive; for formal tourneys the date of appearance of the award is decisive (NB: not the closing date of the tourney). If a composition has been published in a magazine which is labelled 2015 on the front but it appeared in 2016-2018, the composition is eligible for the 2016-18 WCCI. If a composition has been published in a magazine which is labelled 2018 on the front but it appeared in 2019, the composition is eligible for the 2016-18 WCCI provided that the magazine was published before the deadline. If a composition has been published in a magazine which is labelled 2019 on the front but it appeared in 2018, the composition is not eligible for the 2016-18 WCCI. Later corrections or versions could be accepted if they are submitted before the deadline. If the date of publication is in doubt, the director should ask the composer for evidence. Joint compositions and versions created in collaboration with other composer(s) are not allowed. It is not allowed to submit compositions on behalf of someone else without explicit statement of the other person’s consent.	4. A composer may submit to each section no more than 6 and no less than 4 compositions published in the defined three-year period. For informal tourneys the date of publication of the issue containing the composition is decisive; for formal tourneys the date of appearance of the award is decisive (NB: not the closing date of the tourney). Later corrections should normally be accepted. If the date of publication is in doubt, the director should ask the composer for evidence. Joint compositions are not allowed. It is not allowed to submit compositions on behalf of someone else without his written consent.
5. Entries must be sent to the director by email and in PDF format only. In each section composers have to submit one PDF file, which will include all their entries to this section with one composition per page. Composers must have already marked their entries with No. 1 to 6. The compositions should be in diagrams of a uniform size, with the author’s name, publication data, any award, stipulation, full solution and a comment if desired. Algebraic notation is to be used. In section D (endgame studies) composers may alternatively submit a PGN file of their entries or both. In section G (Fairies) composers must provide the definitions for the less common fairy elements.	5. Entries must be sent to the director by email and in PDF format only. In each section composers have to submit one PDF file, which will include all their entries to this section with one composition per page. Composers must have already marked their entries with No. 1 to 6. The compositions should be in diagrams of a uniform size, with the author’s name, email address, publication data, any award, stipulation, full solution and a comment if desired. Algebraic notation is to be used. In section D (endgame studies) composers may alternatively submit a PGN file of their entries.
8. Using a scale of 0 to 4 including half-points, each judge will allocate points to all compositions in the section(s) which he has agreed to judge, except for his own entries and entries that were excluded from the competition on technicalities. Compositions which are sound and not anticipated should receive at least 0.5 points. The judges must explain their reason(s) for giving a score of 0 points to any composition. Judges in section D (endgame studies) are requested to allocate points to the studies as if they had been composed in the traditional manner before the advent of the computer into compositional chess. It should also be noted that studies are not to be regarded as anticipated by any position appearing in a computer-generated database.	8. Using a scale of 0 to 4 including half-points, each judge will allocate points to all compositions in the section(s) which he has agreed to judge, except for his own entries. Compositions which are sound and not anticipated should receive at least 0.5 points. The judges must explain their reason(s) for giving a score of 0 points to any composition. Judges in section D (endgame studies) are requested to allocate points to the studies as if they had been composed in the traditional manner before the advent of the computer into compositional chess. It should also be noted that studies are not to be regarded as anticipated by any position appearing in a computer-generated database.
12. The director will send the tables with the results to the 3 members of the Supervising Panel, who cannot be participating or judging in any section. If he feels it necessary he will point out any potential irregularities, e.g. the average score of any one judge is much higher or much lower than that of the other four, or cases where there is a wide disparity (e.g. more than 1.5) between the judges’ points allocated to a given composition (in such cases the director should email the outliers with the average score of the other judges). The members of the Supervising Panel should also point out irregularities and ask the director for a resolution.	12. The director will send the tables with the results to the 3 members of the Supervising Panel, who cannot be participating or judging in any section. If he feels it necessary he will point out any potential irregularities, e.g. the average score of any one judge is much higher or much lower than that of the other four, or cases where there is a wide disparity (e.g. more than 1.5) between the judges’ points allocated to a given composition. The members of the Supervising Panel should also point out irregularities and ask the director for a resolution.

Update (14.12.2021): The changes in the announcement appear in red colour.

Participants may submit their entries by January 20, 2022. Details can be found in the announcement.

WCCI 2016-2018: Results

By admin 18/06/2019 20/06/2019 WCCI

The seventh World Championship in Composing for Individuals is completed. 266 composers from 42 different countries competed in 8 sections and submitted a total of 2831 compositions. With the exception of section count, these numbers are the WCCI new all time high. 611 compositions by 151 author automatically qualify for the inclusion into the FIDE Album. About a hundred of these problems mostly composed by the winners can be found in this report.

My congratulations to the winners! Your results are overwhelmingly impressive given the extreme level of competition. My congratulations to everyone who is happy with his or her performance! The WCCI is open to everyone.

This was a big project that took almost two years in preparation and execution. It would not be possible without the help of many experts from different countries who consulted me on possible judge candidates and provided other valuable advice. Many thanks to you!

Many thanks to our judges! In less than five months they have done a titanic amount of work. This year we have had two substitute judges who had to run on even tighter schedule. Contribution of the judges is priceless, this event would not be possible without them.

Also I want to thank the members of the Supervising Panel and the President of the WFCC (who also acted as one of the judges) for their timely feedback and advice on the rules of the competition.

D. Turevski, Moscow 18/06/2019

The WINNERS:

A – Twomovers: Vasyl Dyachuk, Marjan Kovačević, Valery Shanshin
B – Threemovers: Aleksandr Feoktistov, Aleksandr Kuzovkov, Valery Shavyrin
C – Moremovers: Mikhail Marandyuk, Aleksandr Kuzovkov, Fedor Davidenko
D – Endgame studies: Oleg Pervakov, Martin Minski, Steffen Slumstrup Nielsen
E – Helpmates: Vasyl Kryzhanivskyi, Aleksandr Semenenko, Fadil Abdurahmanović
F – Selfmates: Andrey Selivanov, Zoran Gavrilovski, Aleksandr Kuzovkov
G – Fairies: Vlaicu Crișan, Petko Petkov, Lev Grolman / Borislav Gadjanski
H – Retros: Silvio Baier, Dmitrij Baibikov, Nicolas Dupont

The ceremony and the award of trophies will be held in this year’s congress in Vilnius.

WCCI 2016-2018: Announcement

By admin 14/09/2018 03/12/2021 WCCI

The WFCC is inviting composers of all countries to participate in the 2016-18 WCCI. The tourney director is Dmitry Turevsky (email: dmitri.turevski@gmail.com). The competition will be held according to the system used in the previous championship, with changes in the points 4, 5, 8 and 12 of the rules.

WCCI 2016-18	WCCI 2013-15
4. A composer may submit to each section no more than 6 and no less than 4 compositions published in the defined three-year period. For informal tourneys the date of publication of the issue containing the composition is decisive; for formal tourneys the date of appearance of the award is decisive (NB: not the closing date of the tourney). If a composition has been published in a magazine which is labelled 2015 on the front but it appeared in 2016-2018, the composition is eligible for the 2016-18 WCCI. If a composition has been published in a magazine which is labelled 2018 on the front but it appeared in 2019, the composition is eligible for the 2016-18 WCCI provided that the magazine was published before the deadline. If a composition has been published in a magazine which is labelled 2019 on the front but it appeared in 2018, the composition is not eligible for the 2016-18 WCCI. Later corrections or versions could be accepted if they are submitted before the deadline. If the date of publication is in doubt, the director should ask the composer for evidence. Joint compositions and versions created in collaboration with other composer(s) are not allowed. It is not allowed to submit compositions on behalf of someone else without explicit statement of the other person’s consent.	4. A composer may submit to each section no more than 6 and no less than 4 compositions published in the defined three-year period. For informal tourneys the date of publication of the issue containing the composition is decisive; for formal tourneys the date of appearance of the award is decisive (NB: not the closing date of the tourney). Later corrections should normally be accepted. If the date of publication is in doubt, the director should ask the composer for evidence. Joint compositions are not allowed. It is not allowed to submit compositions on behalf of someone else without his written consent.
5. Entries must be sent to the director by email and in PDF format only. In each section composers have to submit one PDF file, which will include all their entries to this section with one composition per page. Composers must have already marked their entries with No. 1 to 6. The compositions should be in diagrams of a uniform size, with the author’s name, publication data, any award, stipulation, full solution and a comment if desired. Algebraic notation is to be used. In section D (endgame studies) composers may alternatively submit a PGN file of their entries or both. In section G (Fairies) composers must provide the definitions for the less common fairy elements.	5. Entries must be sent to the director by email and in PDF format only. In each section composers have to submit one PDF file, which will include all their entries to this section with one composition per page. Composers must have already marked their entries with No. 1 to 6. The compositions should be in diagrams of a uniform size, with the author’s name, email address, publication data, any award, stipulation, full solution and a comment if desired. Algebraic notation is to be used. In section D (endgame studies) composers may alternatively submit a PGN file of their entries.
8. Using a scale of 0 to 4 including half-points, each judge will allocate points to all compositions in the section(s) which he has agreed to judge, except for his own entries and entries that were excluded from the competition on technicalities. Compositions which are sound and not anticipated should receive at least 0.5 points. The judges must explain their reason(s) for giving a score of 0 points to any composition. Judges in section D (endgame studies) are requested to allocate points to the studies as if they had been composed in the traditional manner before the advent of the computer into compositional chess. It should also be noted that studies are not to be regarded as anticipated by any position appearing in a computer-generated database.	8. Using a scale of 0 to 4 including half-points, each judge will allocate points to all compositions in the section(s) which he has agreed to judge, except for his own entries. Compositions which are sound and not anticipated should receive at least 0.5 points. The judges must explain their reason(s) for giving a score of 0 points to any composition. Judges in section D (endgame studies) are requested to allocate points to the studies as if they had been composed in the traditional manner before the advent of the computer into compositional chess. It should also be noted that studies are not to be regarded as anticipated by any position appearing in a computer-generated database.
12. The director will send the tables with the results to the 3 members of the Supervising Panel, who cannot be participating or judging in any section. If he feels it necessary he will point out any potential irregularities, e.g. the average score of any one judge is much higher or much lower than that of the other four, or cases where there is a wide disparity (e.g. more than 1.5) between the judges’ points allocated to a given composition (in such cases the director should email the outliers with the average score of the other judges). The members of the Supervising Panel should also point out irregularities and ask the director for a resolution.	12. The director will send the tables with the results to the 3 members of the Supervising Panel, who cannot be participating or judging in any section. If he feels it necessary he will point out any potential irregularities, e.g. the average score of any one judge is much higher or much lower than that of the other four, or cases where there is a wide disparity (e.g. more than 1.5) between the judges’ points allocated to a given composition. The members of the Supervising Panel should also point out irregularities and ask the director for a resolution.

Participants may submit their entries by January 20, 2019. Details can be found in the announcement.

WCCI 2013-2015: Results

By admin 26/06/2016 26/06/2016 WCCI

The WFCC is pleased to announce the results of the 2013-15 World Championship in Composing for Individuals. The WCCI was conducted, as usual, in 8 sections and attracted a record number of 2862 entries by 248 composers from 41 countries. We are grateful to Dmitry Turevsky, the director of the championship, who uploaded all entries on the site, co-ordinated flawlessly the 40 judges and prepared an excellent and very comprehensive report. All judges worked smoothly and submitted their scores on time. The members of the supervising panel resolved a few minor issues without interfering to the judges’ work.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all participants who made the championship such a great success!
The ceremony and the award of trophies will be held in this year’s congress in Belgrade.

WCCI 2013-2015: Statistics

By admin 21/01/2016 21/01/2016 WCCI

WCCI 2013-15 broke all the records!

By far the biggest final numbers: till the last day (January 20th) 2862 entries by 248 composers from 41 countries arrived!

For the first time, all entries publicly available on the “Entries” page (click on the numbers of problems sent by each composer).

Previous records: 2319 entries (2004-06), 227 composers (2010-12), 38 countries (2001-03).

Category: WCCI